Our cycling news roundup, including a couple of off-the-bike, early-season updates from the Two Best Riders in the World: Tadej makes some questionably timed (and questionable) choices, while van der Poel trades tires for skis before heading from mud to tarmac. Plus more posts from rides, races, racers and routes around the world. Dig in!
TOP STORY
- While Rivals Race (and Ski), Pogačar Debuts New Hair, New Crypto Deal
RACE NEWS
- Vuelta Teams Selected — and Again, No Unibet Rose Rockets
- Adam Yates Eyes Third Tour of Oman Title
- Tour de Hongrie Route Revealed
TEAM, RIDER AND CYCLING NEWS
- All Work and no Play? Not for MVDP
- Pidcock: Our Team Is Ready for the TDF Challenge
- Ben O’Connor Targets the Giro for Jayco
- Team Novo Nordisk Headed Back to Milan-San Remo
- USA Cycling Announces Expanded Junior Gravel Schedule
- Canadian Coles-Lyster Reflects on Surgery Recovery, TDU Win
- UCI Advances Safety and Solidarity Initiatives at Belgium Meeting
- And...Sigh: Two Doping Violations
While Rivals Race (and Ski), Pogačar Debuts New Hair, New Crypto Deal
The following is commentary by Mike — and may or may not reflect the sentiments of his fellow PEZzers.
Timing has always been one of Tadej Pogačar’s strengths.
Typically we’d mean the timing of his attacks, or maybe race-calendar announcements. This week though, just after almost-rival Mathieu van der Poel won his record-setting eighth World Cyclocross Championship, the World Road Race champ stole the cycling thunder by unveiling a new…hairdo.
It was enough to provoke a comment from MVDP himself.
The cringey — cough — coif post, however, wasn’t Pogi’s most notably timed announcement: He also revealed a new sponsorship deal with KuCoin, a crypto exchange — almost exactly four years after several celebrities promoted crypto on the world’s biggest stage: Super Bowl ads.
Not just any crypto firm: In 2024 KuCoin and its founders were charged and later pleaded guilty of money laundering and other charges.
For once, Pogačar is a (very) late arrival.
A PR misstep? Perhaps — but every celeb is allowed a few Take-my-talents-to-South-Beach moments. At his core, he’s a fierce competitor and cycling’s best ambassador. Maybe he really does bring “Performance. Trust. Endurance.” to the firm, as its social media suggests.
Plus, one look deeper into his Instagram and we can see where his heart (also) lies:
A blond dye job? A crypto sponsorship? Sure, fine; I’m just grateful for riding with panache, and not taking himself too seriously.
But I’ll still be hoping for a more competitive Tour this year.
RACE NEWS
Vuelta Teams Selected — and Again, No Unibet Rose Rockets
A week ago we reported on the Tour de France team selection, including the debut of Caja Rural and Q36.5-Pinarello — but no bid for the upstart team Unibet Rose Rockets.
Alas: the Dutch/French team has been omitted from the Vuelta start list as well.
The organizers of La Vuelta selected all 18 UCI WorldTeams — as is required and customary — as well as three UCI ProTeams and two wildcards.
La Vuelta will start Saturday, August 22 and finish Sunday, September 13.
Adam Yates Eyes Third Tour of Oman Title
Adam Yates returns as a favorite to win next week’s Tour of Oman — a win that would be his record-setting third victory at the early-season stage race. The UAE Team Emirates XRG leader, who will wear bib number 1, is chasing something previous two-time winners Chris Froome and Alexey Lutsenko never achieved.
Last year’s narrow 6-second margin over Valentin Paret-Peintre sets up an intriguing rematch. The Soudal Quick-Step climber, fresh off his Tour de France Mont Ventoux stage win, poses the greatest threat on the decisive Green Mountain finale.
Movistar fields a formidable Colombian-Spanish trio—Nairo Quintana, Einer Rubio, and Roger Adria—while Visma-Lease a Bike counters with 2023 Vuelta champion Sepp Kuss.
Beyond the GC battle, sprinters including Axel Zingle, Bryan Coquard, and Mickel Honoré will contest stage victories beginning with the Muscat Classic prologue.
For Yates, seeking his 10th career stage race victory, success hinges on surviving Eastern Mountain and conquering Green Mountain against cycling’s elite climbers.
Check out these highlights from the 2025 Tour of Oman:
Tour de Hongrie Route Revealed
The route for the 47th Tour de Hongrie was revealed on February 3 at the Budapest Music Center, with the race set to traverse southern Hungary across 829 kilometers from Gyula to Veszprém.
The five-day race, running from May 13 to 17, will challenge competitors with nearly 5,500 meters of elevation gain while passing through 70 towns across seven counties: Békés, Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok, Bács-Kiskun, Tolna, Somogy, Baranya, and Veszprém.
The opening three stages favor sprinters, while the fourth stage serves as the queen stage with the route’s only mountain finish. The fifth stage features hilly terrain and a flat finish, promising an unpredictable conclusion.
Riders will compete for bonus seconds at 15 intermediate sprints, with the first three finishers earning 3, 2, and 1 seconds respectively. The route includes 12 categorized climbs, headlined by the first category finish at Pécs – Bárány Road.
The event is organized by the Hungarian Cycling Federation, Vuelta Sports Office, and the National Event Management Agency, with support from the Active Hungary programme and the Ministry of Defence’s State Secretariat for Sport.
TEAM, RIDER AND CYCLING NEWS
All Work and no Play? Not for MVDP
While Pogačar was coloring his hair and announcing a new sponsorship deal, his rival/buddy Mathieu was taking some “me” time.
What we’re learning is that in this era of nearly year-round bike racing (especially for ‘cross/road doublers), the greats still take breaks — if brief ones.
Evidently Mathieu van der Poel decided that if Tadej Pogačar can go skiing, then so can he:
Just 24 hours after earning his record-breaking eighth World Cyclocross Championship, van der Poel was shussing with skill — not at a resort, like Pogi’s Isola 2000, but via helicopter. The man appreciates his luxuries.
We’ll see him back on firm ground soon enough, though: van der Poel has indicated that he may start Omloop het Nieuwsblad for the first time later this month; if not, we’ll see him soon thereafter, certainly to defend his Milan-San Remo title.
Pidcock: Our Team Is Ready for the TDF Challenge
His Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team having been awarded its first-ever Tour de France start, Tom Pidcock summed up the significance of the moment: “The Tour de France is the biggest race in the world…To be able to go there and to try and perform the best you can is an honour. So I think that’s an exciting task for us as a team, to be there in the best shape possible.
“It’s the biggest stage we have to race on. With that comes so much baggage but I think in this team they help me carry it all. I think personally, my biggest objective is to go there, enjoy the suffering, enjoy the intensity of the race, the media with the racing. I think if we can enjoy it and enjoy the suffering as a team, then the results will come from that.”
Ben O’Connor Targets the Giro for Jayco
GC stalwart Ben O’Connor has confirmed the Giro d’Italia as his primary 2026 objective.
The 30-year-old was a stage winner at the Italian Grand Tour back in 2020 and finished fourth overall in 2024. Now, the rider from Perth, Australia is eager to return stronger, this year with Team Jayco AlUla.
Having kicked off his season in his native Australia at the Tour Down Under, O’Connor will now shift his focus and preparations to May and the Grande Partenza in Bulgaria.
“The Giro d’Italia always finds our soft spots,” O’Connor explained. “Maybe it’s just the Italian allure, or maybe because it was the Grand Tour I always believed I’d perform well at.
“The 2024 Giro and the fourth place overall was a good result, but no one likes finishing off the podium. I’d love to change that in the future and can’t wait to be back there this year.”
The 2026 Giro d’Italia features a 40km individual time trial and a massive 49,150 metres of climbing: the perfect combination for the Team Jayco AlUla climber. Living and training at altitude, the return of several mountain top finishes above 2,000 metres is also a welcome addition with O’Connor hoping to shine on the hardest of days.
“Having that long crescendo into the final week of big mountains is something that’s always suited my style,” O’Connor continued “And it’s been replicated again for 2026, especially the Dolomiti stage.”
O’Connor has come close to a GC victory before with a second place finish at the 2024 Vuelta a España, plus another near-podium finish, with fourth place at the 2021 Tour de France.
Team Novo Nordisk Headed Back to Milan-San Remo
Team Novo Nordisk, the world’s first all diabetes professional cycling team will be back at Mike’s favorite race, ‘La Classicissima’ — Milan-San Remo, in Italy this March.
First held in 1907 and one of cycling’s five monuments, the race will cover just over 300km west to the Ligurian coast, where it typically springs to life over the iconic climbs that have come to define the last part of the race — the ‘Tre Capi’, Cipressa and Poggio di Sanremo all come before the finale on Via Roma in downtown Sanremo.
The partnership between Novo Nordisk and Team Novo Nordisk is rooted in a shared purpose: to demonstrate that living with diabetes does not limit ambition or performance, while promoting the importance of health for all.
“We’re extremely proud to confirm our participation in Milan-San Remo this year,” said General Manager Vassili Davidenko. “Our last time was in 2021, and we made the breakaway with Andrea Peron and Charles Planet…We have come a long way since then and to see how the team keeps developing and progressing year on year is testament to hard work and the support of our sponsors Novo Nordisk.”
USA Cycling Announces Expanded Junior Gravel Schedule
USA Cycling has announced the 2026 Junior Gravel National Series, expanding to a 10-event series calendar. All four of the events from the inaugural 2025 season, Valley of Tears, Sea Otter Classic, Unbound Gravel, and SBT GRVL, return in 2026. They will be joined by five additional events, culminating with the 2026 USA Cycling Gravel National Championship on September 12 in La Crescent, Minn.
The series includes four competition categories: Junior Men 15-16, Junior Women 15-16, Junior Men 17-18, and Junior Women 17-18. The overall series champion will be determined by total accumulated points across the season once the three race minimum is met. Each event will utilize a points system that combines points from the riders finishing place with a starter bonus based on field size, rewarding both results and participation.
“Junior riders asked for more chances to race gravel and be part of a clear series, and this expanded calendar delivers that,” said Justin Evans, USA Cycling National Events Manager.
Details including event locations, registration information, and additional event specifics are available on the USA Cycling website at https://usacycling.org/national-series/usa-cycling-junior-gravel-national-series.
2026 Junior Gravel National Series schedule
| Date | Event | Location |
| February 28, 2026 | Rouge Roubaix XXII | Saint Francisville, La. |
| March 7, 2026 | Valley of Tears | Turkey, Texas |
| April 17, 2026 | Sea Otter Classic | Monterey, Calif. |
| May 30, 2026 | Unbound Gravel | Emporia, Kan. |
| June 6, 2026 | Rothrock Grit Gravel Race | State College, Penn. |
| June 13, 2026 | Dirty Dino Gravel Race | Vernal, Utah |
| June 28, 2026 | SBT GRVL | Steamboat Springs, Colo. |
| July 25, 2026 | Dust Bowl 100 | Eminence, Ind. |
| August 15, 2026 | Core4 | Iowa City, Iowa |
| September 12, 2026 | USA Cycling Gravel National Championships | La Crescent, Minn. |
Canadian Coles-Lyster Reflects on Surgery Recovery, TDU Win
Winning a professional bike race under any circumstances is impressive. Canadian cyclist Maggie Coles-Lyster achieved this triumph by winning the Tour Down Under Women’s One-Day Race in Tanunda, Australia, just 192 days after undergoing surgery for Flow Limitation of the Iliac Artery. It was her first professional victory since winning the 2022 Canadian National Championships.
Coles-Lyster powered from a reduced bunch after multiple crashes in the final kilometers. The Human Powered Health rider had crashed earlier in the race but fought back to position herself perfectly for the finale.
The bilateral iliac artery surgery repaired narrowed arteries restricting blood flow to her legs. Following extensive rehabilitation, Coles-Lyster expressed immense relief at proving her comeback capabilities:
“This victory is big for me in a lot of ways. Six months ago I had bilateral iliac artery endofibrosis surgery to repair my narrowed arteries that supply blood to both of my legs… I had big ambitions coming into the week, but there’s always a level of uncertainty after such a big procedure. To feel the way I did in the race and secure my first pro win since 2022 Canadian National Championships feels huge for me. It reassures me that all of last year, the pain and the decisions, were all worth it. ”
UCI Advances Safety and Solidarity Initiatives at Belgium Meeting
The UCI Management Committee convened in Beveren, Belgium, on January 29-30, approving key initiatives to enhance cycling safety and global development.
The committee greenlit the 2026-2027 UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup calendar, featuring 12 rounds across Europe from November 2026 to January 2027. Dates were also confirmed for the 2026 UCI Cycling Esports World Championships in Abu Dhabi (November 14) and the 2028 UCI Mountain Bike Marathon World Championships in Cape Town (September 21-25).
Safety improvements dominated discussions. The UCI launched a call for expressions of interest in developing cyclist airbags and authorized time trial helmets for the 200m track cycling event. The yellow card system showed effectiveness in its first year, with 270 cards issued in 2025, resulting in three suspensions and demonstrating improved rider behavior.
The committee allocated CHF 32 million to solidarity programs for 2026-2029, a 7.3% increase from the previous cycle. This funding will support the Global 2028 initiative, expanding talent development across Africa, Asia, and Central/South America.
Kigali, Rwanda, received the UCI Bike City label, recognizing its commitment to cycling infrastructure and sustainable urban mobility. The city aims for carbon neutrality by 2050, with 200km of cycling infrastructure planned.
And...Sigh: Two Doping Violations
The UCI has announced doping violations involving two riders from separate cases.
Azerbaijani junior rider Artyom Proskuryakov received a three-year ban after testing positive for methamphetamine and its metabolites during the 2025 UCI Road World Championships Men Junior road race on September 23. The samples were collected through intelligence-led testing. Proskuryakov’s suspension runs from November 18, 2025, through November 17, 2028, following his acceptance of consequences under the World Anti-Doping Code and UCI Anti-Doping Rules. Methamphetamine is classified as a non-specified stimulant on the 2025 Prohibited List.
In a separate case, Colombian rider Germán Darío Gómez Becerra tested positive for boldenone and its metabolites in an out-of-competition sample collected December 28, 2025. Becerra has been provisionally suspended and retains the right to request B sample analysis. Boldenone is an anabolic androgenic steroid prohibited by the World Anti-Doping Agency.
Both cases are being managed under the UCI’s anti-doping program, which has been operationally delegated to the International Testing Agency since January 2021. The ITA Cycling Unit handles testing across all cycling disciplines while the UCI maintains responsibility for results management and prosecuting violations. The UCI declined further comment on both ongoing matters.
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